Fordley Road, Middleton, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17

Beautiful period farmhouse with a range of modern and traditional buildings standing in idyllic gardens and grounds of 7 acres.

Description

Fordley Hall is a Grade II Listed farmhouse. It is believed that from the carvings on principal beams in the hall/dining room, that the original hall dates back to 1478 with both wings extended in the late 1960s. The house is of timber frame construction with rendered elevations under a paintiled roof. The substantial house extends to some 4,295 sq.ft arranged over two floors plus a cellar.

The front door opens in to a porch and inner hallway where there are two reception rooms beyond; the drawing room and dining room. The dual aspect drawing room enjoys views over the gardens, buildings and farmland and has French doors opening onto the terrace. At one end is an open fireplace and store cupboard. The dining room is dual aspect with windows to the front and rear of the property. It has exposed timbers and an inglenook fireplace with bressummer beam above which is home to a woodburning stove. A door leads to a study and also an inner lobby where the first of two staircases rise to the first floor landing. Off this is a cloakroom with WC and handwash basin and access to the cellar. From the dining room, a hallway leads to the farmhouse kitchen/breakfast room. This has low-level wall units and a large stainless sink with drainers. There is a four oven duck egg blue oil fired Aga and also an electric oven and electric hob. The kitchen windows overlook the terrace. A second set of stairs rise to the first floor landing and as well as a door into the boot room, there are also doors to the butler’s pantry and the large larder. The utility room has a stainless steel sink and space and plumbing for a washing machine and tumble dryer. There is an oil-fired boiler, a store cupboard and a further cloakroom with WC. The boot room has wall to wall windows overlooking the gardens and a door to the driveway. The first floor landing has windows to two elevations, one of two airing cupboards with a hot water cylinder and doors to the bedrooms and bathroom. The principal bedroom is dual aspect and has a bay window overlooking the barns and agricultural land beyond. This has fitted wardrobes and drawers and a door to an en-suite bathroom/dressing room that comprises a bath, two handwash basins, WC, shower and airing cupboard with a hot water cylinder. The six further first floor bedrooms can all be used as doubles and have attractive period features such as exposed timbers. There are two family bathrooms, both of which have baths, handwash basins and WCs, and one with a shower above the bath.

Fordley Hall is approached from Littlemoor Road which is a no-through road, via a shingled drive providing off-road parking. From here there is access to a redbrick building that comprises two open fronted garages and a workshop. Above the garages/workshop is the impressive studio. This has been refurbished in recent years and is used as the farm office. Inside it has a kitchenette with high and low-level wall units, an integrated dishwasher, electric oven, hob and stainless steel sink. In addition, there is a shower room with WC, handwash basin and shower. The studio has electric heating and subject to the normal consents, would be ideal as an annexe or holiday let.

The gardens are predominately to the south and west of the house and there is a substantial sandstone terrace beyond which are beds and topiary leading down to a lower-level lawn where there is also a pond and a useful store and mower shed. Adjacent to the studio is a partly walled garden attached to which is a timber framed greenhouse. Beyond is an enclosed vegetable garden and also a meadow. Here there is an excellent hard tennis court with retractable lighting. A five bar gate leads to an additional meadow which is enclosed by mature trees and hedges and contains a large pond. Adjacent to this is a horse paddock which is fenced and has direct access to the yard and buildings.

Adjacent to the house and its grounds is a yard and buildings, which have excellent independent access from the lane. There is substantial concrete hardstanding off which are the numerous modern and traditional buildings including silos. The outbuildings include a Timber Frame Suffolk Barn, Dutch Barn, a further barn, which is used as the shoot dining room and is inclusive of a cloakroom with WC and handwash basin, and separate kitchen area, with first floor storage above. There is also a garage and games room, a separate cloakroom and additional stores. There are also three large stables each of approximately 15’ square, along with a triple bay cart lodge, store/tack room, which is divided into sections including kennels, stores and tack room. Completing the outbuildings is a grain store, which is of steel portal frame construction and contains a drying floor.

Location

Fordley Hall is situated in a pleasant rural location along a no-through road. The property is situated within the Parish of Middleton with the village centre itself being approximately one mile. The village of Middleton benefits from a public house, a primary school, a garage and children’s nursery.

The village is well located for access to the Heritage Coast at the popular villages of Southwold, Walberswick, Dunwich, Thorpeness and Aldeburgh and also popular nature reserves such as Minsmere, located just to the north of Westleton.

There is a wide range of sporting facilities in the area with a number of good golf courses within easy reach as well as sailing on the rivers Alde and Deben.

The nearby town of Saxmundham provides a range of day to day facilities including a bank, two supermarkets, a high street with a variety of shops and a train station with access to London via Ipswich. Snape, the home of the Aldeburgh Music Festival at Snape Maltings is within easy reach. Ipswich is the country town of Suffolk and has a mainline rail service to London taking from 65 minutes.

Square Footage: 4,295 sq ft


Acreage: 7 Acres

Additional Info

Mains electricity with one supply serving the house and buildings

Water via a private well

Private drainage system (whilst it is understood that the septic tank works in a very satisfactory manner, it is unlikely to comply with the modern General Binding Rules. Therefore a buyer should budget to install a sewage treatment plant and this has been taken into account within the guide price)

110 PV panels along with Tesla batteries and with a capacity of 24.75kwp. The FIT tariff is 12.57p and the two Tesler Power wall batteries with a 13.5kW capacity

17 acres of additional land can me purchased via separate negotiation

Agent Note: Whilst the property sits in a particularly pleasant rural location, it should be noted that the Sizewell C Link road is being constructed in the vicinity and whilst some distance from the house and buildings, interested parties may wish to study the plans which are within the public domain or available from the Agent